Paint it beige. . .

Back in the day when we were shopping for a new house, the builders preferred beige.  Everything was beige.  In our house, the walls were beige, the carpeting was beige, the vinyl flooring was beige, and the tile was beige.  It was a perfectly neutral color designed to offend no one.  Of course, it did not impress anyone either.  None of it is beige any longer -- except for the tile I have not yet replaced.   The house is awash with color.  People probably don't like it but my wife and I do.  That is all that matters.  Of course, it is dated.  Every house is dated.  Just as soon as you put up a barn door or paint a wall or replace the backsplash, trends have moved on and the one you just worked so hard to install is passe.  But at least it is not beige.  Fast forward to the present and beige seems to be replaced with gray.  Everything inside and outside is gray -- unless it is grey.  Laminate flooring, walls, tile, cabinets, counters, etc... It is all gray or grey (for the life of me I do not know the difference but I am pretty sure HGTV will tell me).   It is another perfect color for people without any personality who wish neither to impress nor offend anyone.

Often, religion seems to fancy such colors.  Beige or gray or tan or grey... the name does not matter.  What matters is it neither offends nor impresses.  So the preaching is practiced but empty and sure neither to offend nor impress.  It lives up to its nondescript standards.  The music is like elevator muzak, intended to fade into the background and not inhibit the folks inside from doing or saying what they want.  The liturgy is there but bland and low enough so that it neither excites nor bores -- it just is.  There ceremonies are sufficiently inconspicuous and therefore the least that can be done becomes the most that should be done.  The building looks like every public building but not like a church lest anyone get the idea that it was one.  The pastor dresses, talks, and looks like he represents the current casual generation and would fit in on business casual days just as easily as he fits the arena of worship and prayer.  Religion has, for the most part, become the vague, bland, beige style of belief and practice sure to not ruffle any feathers.  Oddly enough, the worst offenders are those who claim to be contemporary but are hopelessly stuck in music and style back in the 1980s.  Piety and practice, along with doctrine and dogma, should not be too spicy or it will surely inhibit the growth and success of the religious endeavor, right?

That is the problem.  We have been doing bland religion and beige worship and gray belief for so long that we now consider milk a spice.  Where has it gotten us?  Look around.  The gray of the worship and belief is right in style with the gray hair of those in the pews.  We offend no one so we impress no one.  I long for the days when our church body was a real flavor.  I ache for the days when some folks went to worship in one of our congregations and said "no, that is definitely not for me."  I wait not so patiently for the days when we return to standing for truth and worshiping in spirit and in truth.  Truth is always offensive.  It is not which truth offends but real truth always offends someone and generally nearly everyone.  When St. Peter said "Lord, where else can we go?  Your the only show in town that has life now and eternally," the poor man was not exactly making a bold confession.  He was admitting that Jesus was too spicy for him and for his world and probably always would be but there was no alternative.  Jesus or death.  Jesus or sin.  Jesus or hell.

I wish we would stop worrying about what people think and began to worry about what Jesus thinks.  Would Jesus preach vague self-help sermons because people would not be turned away?  Would Jesus offer bread that was mere bread because people want to eat more than they want to be saved?  Would Jesus stop talking about sin because it might imply people are sinners in need of a Savior?  Would Jesus stop attending the temple because people might be offended by the sacrifice of animals or the synagogue because the same people might not accept the truth of what was being taught?  When people started leaving because faith was too hard and doctrine too difficult, Jesus did not change but turned to His disciples who had been with Him from the beginning and ask if they were going to abandon the way of life too.  Before you jump to conclusions and presume I just like to offend, that is not my point.  I am a fairly easy guy to get along with except when it comes to vanilla Christianity in a world desperately in need of a real flavor.  We do not offend to be offensive but neither are we beige in the hopes of gathering those who really like the absence of color (or truth, for that matter).  The Athanasian Creed got it so painfully correct.  Whoever would be saved must...  The Gospel does not require you to do much of anything except to not be offended by it.  Jesus is a stumbling stone.  If the Church is not, we might not be the Church Jesus established at the cost of His own blood.